Silicon-oxygen nanoparticles aggregate to form zeolites, capturing other atoms and molecules in the process. The resulting minerals have regularly-shaped, intricate pore and channel systems throughout their structures.

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R. Lee Penn of the University of Minnesota department of chemistry uses the Tecnai F30 high-resolution microscope to study zeolite formation. The scope was purchased with the support of a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation grant.

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Laboratory-grown zeolites appear to form in a hierarchical, steep-by-step fashion with silicon-oxygen nanoparticles forming first. Those particles then aggregate into larger, more complex structures, incorporating other atoms and molecules while still leaving substantial pores and tunnels.